The Environment Agency (EA) has a responsibility to ensure that the water off our coasts, and in our main rivers, meets EU standards for cleanliness and safety, whilst the Borough of Poole and Bournemouth Borough Council are riparian owners of the Bourne stream and it's banks.  In 2000 the EA formed the Bourne Stream Partnership to ensure effective management of both the local watercourse and bathing beaches, and the three organisations work together with the Project Officer to lead Partnership projects.

Borough of Poole website

Environment Agency website

Bournemouth Borough Council website

Our other Partners have an interest in the stream and its catchment area too, and help in many different ways to ensure that the Partnership meets its strategic objectives.  They explain their activities and membership below.

Bournemouth & West Hampshire Water is a water company, supplying drinking water to nearly 500,000 people in parts of Poole, Bournemouth, Christchurch, New Milton, Lymington, Wimborne, Ringwood, Fordingbridge and surrounding areas.  We supply about 150 million litres of water each day although this increases significantly in the summer due to garden watering and visitors to the area.  The increase can be as much as 60 percent company wide and more in particular areas.  

About three-quarters of the water is abstracted from two local rivers, the Avon and the Stour.  The remainder comes from deep boreholes at locations north of Wimborne, near Fordingbridge and in Lymington.  All the water is subject to treatment and careful monitoring of its quality so as to ensure it is safe when it reaches customers.

Inevitably, the abstraction of water for public water supply has some impact on the environment.  All sources such as ours are the subject of licences to abstract which are granted by the Environment Agency.  We do aim to ensure that in the longer term the impact is acceptable and sustainable and we work closely with the Environment Agency and others to be satisfied that this is the case in the future.

We must promote the efficient use of water by our customers and do a variety of things to raise awareness and try to help customers avoid waste of this precious resource.

The Bourne Stream interests us because it flows through the heart of an urban area and is part of many people’s daily lives.  It provides local examples of some of the impacts humans can have on a river and through the Partnership we can demonstrate what improvements can be made to the stream.

We see the Partnership as a very good way of helping us to raise awareness of issues about the water environment and ultimately further encouraging our customers to use water wisely.

Contact Details:

Since 1974, Wessex Water has provided drinking water to 1.1 million people and a sewerage service to 2.5 million customers living in an area stretching from Bristol in the north to Bournemouth in the south.  Our standards of service are among the best in the country, with compliance for water supply, sewage treatment and bathing water quality standards at or near 100%.  Our operating efficiency, measured by independent regulator Ofwat, is in the top band.

Despite our high standards there are still improvements we must make to meet new EU and UK requirements.  We are investing more than £3 million a week between now and March 2005 to improve existing assets and meet new standards.  Recently completed wastewater projects include ultraviolet disinfection at Bournemouth, Poole and Christchurch, new treatment plants at Weymouth, Swanage and Bridport, phosphorus removal plants at Salisbury and Dorchester and a Biogran production plant in Bournemouth.

Wessex Water is pleased to be a founder member of the Bourne Stream Partnership. Together with our partners, we aim to tackle the pollution issues associated with an urban waterway and provide a better local environment for the enjoyment of all its users.  

See our web site at www.wessexwater.co.uk

Contact us on 0845 600 4 600 (Mon-Fri 8am-6pm)

Find WaterAid at www.wateraid.org.uk

Look-up Biogran at www.biogrannatural.co.uk

David Elliott

Divisional manager, Wessex Water, 2, Nuffield Road, Poole BH17 0RL

Dorset Wildlife Trust (DWT) is the largest voluntary wildlife organisation in Dorset. It aims to enhance and safeguard wildlife and wild places in Dorset by:

• Acquiring and managing 3,000 acres of nature reserves

• Helping local communities to undertake conservation projects

• Advising farmers and landowners

• Administering Sites of Nature Conservation Interest (SNCIs)

• Influencing government policies and statutory organisations

• Advising county planners

DWT is a partner in the Bourne Stream Partnership to highlight conservation issues and help local people to enjoy the wildlife along the river corridor. DWT manages Alder Hills, a nature Reserve near Alder Road in the Bourne Stream corridor and has recognised two SNCIs in the Bourne Stream corridor. These are Alderney Wood, which is wet woodland and Winston Avenue, which is heath/acid grassland.

DWT can give advice on habitats and species along the Bourne Corridor such as Water Voles and has produced the ‘Living Streams Action Pack’ for community groups, schools and businesses who want to improve streams in the Bournemouth/Poole/Christchurch area and need some guidance.

If you want more information please contact :

Bournemouth University is home to approximately 13,000 undergraduate and postgraduate students. 

The School of Conservation Sciences is one of seven distinct Schools committed to ‘vocational education as a pathway towards career success’. 

The activities of the School are organised into Environmental and Geographical Sciences (EGS) and Archaeology and the Historic Environment (AHE). The focus of EGS is the applied science and management of contemporary environmental systems. The Group’s commitment is to:

• Teaching and learning

• Applied research

• Enterprise activities

Bournemouth University is a partner in the Bourne Stream Partnership primarily to foster the continued integration of the University with its local catchment, but also to contribute to the research of the Bourne Stream, in partnership with relevant stakeholders via undergraduate, postgraduate or staff projects.

If you'd like more information please contact:

Greenlink is a local authority partnership from South East Dorset working on projects that promote countryside access, cycling and walking.  The primary partners are Dorset County Council, Bournemouth Borough Council, Borough of Poole, East Dorset District Council, Christchurch Borough Council and Purbeck District Council.

Bournemouth Oceanarium

Visit their web site here

The Dorset Coast Forum held its inaugural meeting in February 1995.  Since then it has met twice a year to discuss the strategic issues facing the Dorset coast.  

Charged with developing a greater understanding among the authorities, agencies and interest and user groups, the Forum has concentrated on themed debates across a broad range of topic areas ranging from the coastal environment to fisheries, ports and shipping, marine aggregates, pollution and water quality.

The overriding aim of the Forum is to promote a sustainable approach to the management, use and development of the Dorset Coastal Zone, to ensure that the inherent natural and cultural qualities of the coast are maintained or enhanced for the benefit of future generations.

This aim is met by:

• Encouraging co-operation and dialogue between the different interests and users of the coast.

• Encouraging the gathering and dissemination of knowledge and the carrying out of necessary research in relation to the physical processes, natural environment and human use of the Dorset Coastal Zone.

• Reviewing existing national, regional and local coastal policies and working towards the production of integrated policies specific to the Dorset Coastal Zone.

·    The Dorset Coast Strategy has been prepared on behalf of the Dorset Coast Forum.  It sets out a long-term future for the coast, covering the coastline and inshore seas from Lyme Regis to Christchurch.  The Strategy aims to bring together all of the key interests to agree principles and priorities for the future use of the coast, and support co-ordinated practical action.  As land and sea are currently managed and planned separately, the Strategy provides integrated policies for the whole of the coastal zone for the first time.

The Dorset Coast Forum are pleased to be a partner in the Bourne Stream project as the work being undertaken highlights how relatively small changes inland can have dramatic effects on our coastline.

Associates:

Established in 1965, Peter Brett Associates (PBA) has developed into one of the largest UK based multi-disciplinary engineering consultancies, providing a full one-stop service where it is needed. A private partnership with over 400 staff, PBA aim to provide the best solutions to the engineering related challenges faced by clients in the UK and overseas.  Innovation, quality and speed of service, cost effectiveness and attention to detail are essential factors in the PBA approach.

PBA have been involved with the Bourne Stream Partnership from its conception.  In November 1998 PBA were appointed by the Environment Agency (on behalf of the Partnership) to appraise the catchment in terms of its suitability for retro-fitting ‘Best Management Practices’ (BMPs), with the aim of improving water quality conditions within the stream and bathing water quality at Bournemouth Beach. 

The report, entitled ‘Scoping Study for Surface Water Run-Off BMPs in the Bourne Stream Catchment’, was issued in May 1999 and identified the potential for improvements at various locations within the catchment.   Read the Scoping Study here.

In May 2001, the Agency requested that PBA undertake further study focusing particularly on Coy Pond Gardens, with the principal purpose of assessing the existing landscape, land use, habitat and wildlife conservation values and to identify options for enhancement.  In December 2001 PBA were again commissioned on a similar study, but this time focusing on the section of the stream between Scott Road and Alder Road.

PBA presented their proposed designs for stream enhancements through Coy Pond Gardens at a public consultation in Poole in May 2002, and the resulting consultation report is available here. 

Most recently, PBA were asked to liase with the key stakeholders in the catchment to identify possible sites for source control measures that will provide social, economic and environmental benefits.  The results of the study were presented to the Partnership in August 2004.

Dean and Dyball is well-known to many of the Partners through their construction and maintenance work at the coast and in the Bourne Valley.  The Partnership has contacts at the Southern region office in Ringwood who act in an advisory capacity.  This is particularly useful, for instance, when developing proposals and making applications for funding; the company will provide estimates for proposed work, and make suggestions based on their many years of experience working in a wide range of environmentally sensitive areas.

Dean and Dyball takes a proactive approach to environmental issues by recognising that its work has considerable environmental impact, both positive and negative, which in the long term affects the sustainability of the business.

The company is accredited to ISO 14001:1996 having developed an Integrated Management System which seeks to promote a process of continual improvement to minimise environmental impacts and enhance environmental performance.

We seek to ensure that employees, sub-contractors and suppliers buy into our environmental policy. We recognise that partnering is vital in sharing best practice. The principal objectives within the company are:

• Influence clients and designers to improve the whole-life environmental performance of the construction projects in which the company is involved, establishing energy-efficient and sustainable design solutions where practicable and appropriate.

• Reduce waste disposal to landfill.

• Increase re-use and recycling of construction materials.

• Reduce polluting emissions.

• Reduce consumption of energy and water.

• Reduce impacts on flora, fauna and landscape and enhance nature conservation.

www.deandyball.co.uk